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Heart of Darkness
|Season = 6 |Antagonist = Lucifer |Setting = Amphipolis |In-Universe Date = Year 30 |Production # = V1402 |Filming Dates = |Original Air-Date = |Written By = Emily Skopov |Story By = |Teleplay By = |Directed By = Mark Beesley |Order in Series = 115 of 134 |Order in Season = 3 of 22 |Order in Franchise= 284 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "The Haunting of Amphipolis" |Next Episode in Series = "Who's Gurkhan?" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "The Haunting of Amphipolis" |Next Episode in Franchise = "Who's Gurkhan?" |title cap image = }} The prophecy begins to come true, when Xena begins to take her rightful place on the throne of Hell. But she does not plan on going anywhere just yet and an unlikely suspect catches her eye... Summary The warrior archangels Michael and Raphael, convinced that Xena will never be consigned to Hell voluntarily, are discussing what to do when they are interrupted by a handsome, cocky and extremely ambitious archangel. He brags that he will toss Xena into Hell and personally head up the troop of angels that will keep her there. He appears at Cyrene's tavern just as Gabrielle and Eve are inspecting the smoldering Hell mouth and tells them that the portal will not close until Xena descends into the underworld as heir to Mephistopheles's throne. Meanwhile, a young girl, Aliyah, offers her services to a strangely irritable Xena. As she thanks the warrior princess for helping the people of Amphipolis, Gabrielle and Eve approach with the handsome archangel, who grabs Xena and drags her towards the Hell mouth. Xena frees herself by concieving him that he is conducting indecent exposure. He fell for the trick and Xena turns the table around him. Given his last chance to be remembered in the history, Xena requested for his name, as he introduces himself as Lucifer. Inadvertently, Xena intrigued him into committing one of the Seven Deadly Sins, pride. As Xena is about to stab him, Eve reminds her she cannot kill a "servant of God." Oddly, a confused looking Xena helps him up and escorts him away like they're old buddies. A troubled Eve tells Gabrielle that a cancerous evil has taken root in Xena's heart and is destroying her soul. Back at Cyrene's tavern, Gabrielle and Eve warn Xena about the evil that is overtaking her. With a mischievous smile, Xena reveals that she plans to turn Lucifer into the King of Hell by showing him how much he'll like the dark side. To set the trap, she arranges a romantic picnic with Lucifer during which she shamelessly flirts with him. Unknowingly, Lucifer commits another sin, gluttony, as Xena tempted him with ale and food. Appealing to his vanity and lust for power, Xena suggests that he stay on Earth to rule with her. Although Lucifer did not accept the offer, his thoughts have committed him of envying of the higher ranking Archangels. Meanwhile, throngs of newly arrived men and women are entering the gates of Amphipolis when Eve, Gabrielle and Aliyah notice a mob encircling two fighters. Gabrielle races over to intervene and is shocked when she sees Virgil kicks an injured and helpless young man. Eve quickly realizes that Virgil and the others in the bloodthirsty mob are gradually being contaminated by evil. She tells Gabrielle that the Hell mouth is a magnet, drawing people to Amphipolis and feeding their dark sides to create Hell on Earth. That night, Lucifer conceals a dagger under Xena's bed before Xena begins to indulge him with egyptian massage. While not knowing that the relaxation he is enjoying, has himself committed sloth. As things heat up, Lucifer grabs the dagger but is stunned when Xena, having anticipated his tricks, swiftly disarms him and puts the knife to his throat. When Xena releases him, he storms out with her enticement of giving him the world. Lucifer pauses and looks at Xena, possessing the thought of greed. Meanwhile, Virgil, whose heart is growing ever darker, insists that Eve and Gabrielle take him to Xena so he can pledge himself to her mission. Eve is hanging an Elijian banner in the temple when a rowdy mob led by Virgil enters carrying Xena on their shoulders. She announces they've come to give Lucifer a huge farewell bash. When Eve objects, Gabrielle, whose own heart is beginning to blacken, knocks her unconscious. A riotous celebration gets underway. Xena and Lucifer are hoisted above the drunken revelers, who cheer as Xena pours glittering gold oil over them. As Xena dances seductively, failing to resist her temptation, Lucifer committed yet another Deadly Sin, lust. Lucifer is soon blinded with lust and just as he and Xena are about to make love, Michael and Raphael burst in with their squadron of warrior angels. An intense battle ensues between Xena, Gabrielle, Virgil and the archangels and Xena is ultimately forced to the brink of the Hell mouth by Michael and Raphael. Lucifer suddenly switches sides and lunges at Xena, but she wins him back with her powers of persuasion and the two emerge from the battle unscathed. Back at Cyrene's tavern, a jealous Gabrielle reprimands Xena for not throwing Lucifer into the portal. As Lucifer enters the room, Xena explains that by keeping Hell's throne empty, she and Lucifer will ensure that the portal will burst, merging the kingdoms of Hell and Earth which they will rule together. Convinced Xena needs her help, Eve reaches out and touches her mother's blackened heart. When Lucifer finally gets to be alone with Xena, she proclaims that Eve needs to be eliminated. As Eve runs for her life, hotly pursued by Xena and Lucifer, she reaches the temple where she is surprised by Virgil. Eyeing two swords on the wall, Eve is captured by Gabrielle before she manages to grab them. Xena and Lucifer arrive, while Eve releases herself from Gabrielle and gets hold of the swords above the altar. Lucifer charges at her and knocks one of the swords away. As he is about to strike the final blow, to everyone's surprise, Xena intervenes and disarms him. Xena then admits leading him into committing all of the Seven Deadly Sins except one. Lucifer is consumed by wrath and his heart blackens completely. Committing the last sin, wrath. Being an Angel, the guilt condemns Lucifer to morph into a hideous demon. Xena hurls her chakram, knocking over oil from an urn and several candles to ignite a wall of fire. As the portal of Hell rushes towards them, Xena kicks the burning Lucifer into the bottomless pit. Eve hugs Xena, saying she's sorry she doubted her. Virgil says Xena kept him from doing something too. Gabrielle tells Xena she thought she'd lost her there for a minute or two a couple of times. Xena says that every time she felt herself lose control, she thought of Gabrielle. Disclaimer ''All Hell broke loose during the filming of this motion picture. '' Background Information Behind the Scenes *Director Mark Beesley was chosen to direct this episode because he is considered to have a Rock & Roll video style and they thought that would be just the thing to give the story the edge it needed. *The original script for this episode had a kiss between Gabrielle and Virgil. Both Renee O'Connor and William Gregory Lee decided it was better to insinuate and tease with the possibility of a relationship than to actually have one develop. *The temple used in the party scene was the same one used in "Is There a Doctor in the House?", a whole 91 episodes ago. Key Events *Lucifer becomes the King of Hell in this episode. *Eve picks up a sword for the first and last time, after her days as Livia in this episode. *Gabrielle's seventh and final costume makes its debut in this episode. The top is smaller and has a slightly different design, and does not have the 'tassels' around the bottom. Her necklace also has a different design. Like theBGSB before it, of which there were also two different versions, the more casual viewer could easily mistake them for one and the same. *Adrienne's favorite moment from the series occurs in this episode. It's when Gabrielle hits Eve over the head with a statue. *Xena asking if she can call Lucifer "Lucy" for short is a nod to her real life name - Lucy Lawless. *Lucy and Renee played with the idea of writing their own episode using the "Seven Deadly Sins" as their theme. Unfortunately, they never felt they had the time to develope it properly. Goofs *The wounds on Eve's face in the final scene are unexplained. Some of them also disappear, reappear and multiply during the scene. Trivia *In "Fallen Angel", Michael says that an Angel fell from paradise and he and his followers are trying to reclaim Heaven. Apparently Lucifer is not the first fallen Angel to rule Hell. *This is the only episode of to not have the last scene of the teaser fading out before cutting into the opening credits. Links and References Main Cast *Lucy Lawless as Xena *Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle Guest Stars *Alex Mendoza as Lucifer *Adrienne Wilkinson as Eve *William Gregory Lee as Virgil *Charles Mesure as Michael *Tamati Rice as Raphael *Kara Douglas as Aliyah References Season Navigation de:Herz der Dunkelheit, Teil 2 Category:XWP Season 6 episodes